RIM 4G Playbook photos spotted in the wild

If you thought Research in Motion's bungled Playbook tablet was on the way out, think again. It looks like RIM is not giving up on its iPad challenger, even though that game is an uphill battle for the strongest companies with the biggest momentum, much less ones that have lost double-digit market shares over the last year or so. Nevertheless, there might be a refresh in the Playbook world and its name is 4G.

Back when the idea of a 4G Playbook first came up, it was speculated that RIM would be supporting the Wimax standard, but if there's one thing RIM doesn't need right now it's adopting a technology that's on the way out. So according to some FCC documents that have been uncovered, the Blackberry company has been getting the paperwork filled out to offer a 4G LTE-powered tablet. If it could happen to get such a device out on the market soon, it might actually draw some attention.

There are very few LTE-enabled tablets available now, but that will soon change, so if RIM enters the market when that feature is not a differentiating one, it would be a moot point. The Playbook is not even close to being a success, and even the units that RIM has actually managed to get into consumers' hands aren't doing a good job of generating a revenue stream the way the iPad and the Kindle Fire do. That is the first thing RIM needs to address. LTE connectivity would be nice, but it's not going to sell a failed tablet.